“Vague notions about what existed in the past; fiery essays against the “enemy”; the incessant inciting of passions against all one disagrees with - none of the above can be considered a modern way of doing things. However, this is not where the controversy begins or ends.” -Excerpts from “Retreat of the Revolution and the Tasks of the Communist and Workers’ Movement”, International Seminar in Coventry, England on January 2-3, 1994, presented by Hardial Bains. Taken from Discussion, the Quarterly Review of Contemporary Marxist-Leninist Thought, vol. 1 no. 1, Spring 1994, published by Ideological Studies Centre.- Two things stand out in this regard: 1. Communists must recognize that this is the period of preparation and thus their tactics have to be consistent with the present situation; 2. In the ideological sphere, they must wage a stern struggle against so-called liberal ideology, on the basis of modern definitions. Communist theory must be brought to a par with the demands of revolutionary practice during this period of preparation. The productive forces are being destroyed on an unprecedented scale, causing untold misery for the people. Can capitalism transform itself into a system without crisis? Or is there a need for another system? The challenge is for communist parties to provide an answer, not on the basis of reiterating the principles of Marxism-Leninism over and over again, but by developing their content consistent with the requirements of the present period... Similarly, the entire economic, political and philosophical basis for a new system has to be elaborated as an integral part of the workers movement. The modern proletariat needs its consciousness and the communist parties have to be in a position to provide it. What kind of party is necessary at this time? The question must be answered as a constant that it will be a communist party, it will be revolutionary and it will be based on democratic centralism. The modern feature which will be added in a demonstrative way is that it will not come to power itself or as the representative of the working class. It will be the instrument for bringing the working class into power to lead the people to establish the the broadest possible democracy. ...in Britain, as well as in Canada, the U.S., France and other countries, the arch-reactionary right wing is trying to present itself as the reformer. It is trying to capture the space of discontent of the people with this political system. Within these circumstances, one can see the bankruptcy of that political force which acts in the name of socialism and communism, but which is reluctant even to speak of elaborating modern theory for modern circumstances. It is quite satisfied with what may or may not have taken place in the 1930s and with arguing whether the tactics of the United Front of the 1930s were right or wrong. Every issue becomes the most important one for them to elaborate, except the issue which, objectively, has become the most important for social science: that without the elaboration of political theory, it is not possible to bring about political changes. In the sphere of philosophy, it is generally the prevailing idea in socialist and communist circles that these problems were sorted out by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, and that no problems remain to be dealt with. According to this view, the only thing that remains is to issue calls to everyone to adhere to this philosophy. It was stressed that this is where the real face of marginalization of such communists can be seen, as well as their bankruptcy. If our movement does not take up these questions and does not excel in terms of giving rise to scientists, those who contribute to the solution of such problems, it is not possible, as Lenin pointed out, to have a revolutionary movement, because this is what revolutionary theory is. What has happened during this period is that, with the revolution in retreat, the content and form of ideological struggle has also changed. Today, the struggle has to be directed against all the theories of the liberal bourgeoisie, all of whom are essentially tories. It has to be directed against those who want to divert the communist movement and working class movement away from its task. All the parties have to, within their conditions, work extremely hard to extricate themselves from that narrow-mindedness, that myopia, which has been imposed as a way of life. They have to present themselves as having relevance to modern society. The proletariat cannot simply beg in history and say give us an ism for our liberation. As the vanguard of the class, a communist party cannot repeat endlessly that socialism works. It has to elaborate that theory of liberation in the economic, political, and philosophical spheres, in the course of carrying out the class struggle against the class economy. There is a difference there... It was pointed out that there are not a few people in the world who believe that Marxism-Leninism is ipso facto the most advanced theory. They do not have to lift a finger to do anything. They do not have to provide any content. But Marxism-Leninism did not fall from the skies. This as not a content which was inherent in the heads of some individuals. It was the work of very definite individuals working in very definite conditions. In this context, many are overawed by the work of Karl Marx, but they do not want to correlate that Marxism will be useless unless this theory is made operational by work. At this time, unless minds like Marx, so to speak, exist who revolutionize social science within the present circumstances, who are traveling on the high road of civilization, there will be no revolutionary movement. Such a role belongs at this time to political parties and not to individuals alone. One cannot say that just because the classics exist, just because there is a guide to action, that we have revolutionary theory. Because Lenin also says revolutionary theory assumes its final form or final shape in the course of a genuinely revolutionary and genuinely mass movement. Our suggestion is that a communist should take initiative, occupy the space of theory in that sense, so that as the revolutionary movement movement assumes a mass character, [the questions of what kind of society? and what is the role of communists to bring it about?] become the burning questions of the movement, the communist parties can be at the head. Starting from there, we develop the role of the communist party. For this, the communist party must strictly be the party of the working class and not the party of any other classes. It must be the party of the class and not of a clique and it must always strive to transform itself into a mass communist party. This is a very, very important issue… Such a communist party must seek political unity of the people all the time, the form and content of such a unity depending on very definite circumstances ... but this should not mean that the communist party merges with that political unity, becomes indistinguishable from that and starts losing its character as the party of the working class, the party of the proletariat, and start creating illusions, as if this united front, this coalition, this association is the vanguard leading society. The party must see, analyze in an objective sense that where the proletariat is coming into clash with the bourgeoisie, it must find the ways and means to put the proletariat into action. And it must, on this question, make concessions, compromises. It must work with everybody and must not isolate itself on the basis of what is called a correct political line.” Communists must not carry the baggage of the earlier period. They must not agree with what they call polemicizing or ideological struggle of the old kind. A communist party must set as its ongoing task contesting all the claims of the bourgeoisie; that is, it must attack and expose its apologists. It must concentrate on that and at the same time, while it does not share its ideology with anyone, it must not be afraid to seek political unity with anyone who comes along. The point is that communists must be active, they must be in the van of society, people must look to them, as those who are providing solutions to the problems which the people face. A communist party, if it cannot carry this program by organising in the working class, will lose its proletarian character, it will start organizing peoples coalitions and will dissolve into them. So for the communist party it is fundamental to build the basic organizations in the class, especially in the factories, and to carry out politics. Problems of theory must not be reduced to some fights about this or that definition of communism or some discussion about the past. A communist must deal with theoretical problems as they are posed at this time in history. Political theory, economic theory, theory of natural science: that theoretical work has to be raised to the level which behooves it, the highest level of elaboration and explanation of the key problems which society faces. Lastly, the communist party must fight, in full view of the people, against the communist party itself coming to power. It is not true, which many people believe, that the classics advocate that parties should come to power. A party dictatorship and a proletarian dictatorship are in contradiction with one another. There is a fundamental theoretical point, which is that for the working class, for the proletariat to exercise its leadership, it must rise at the head of the awakened and conscious people who want to establish a new democracy, and not to mirror what bourgeois democracy is, where the different political parties vie for power, and themselves come to power, on the one hand, to safeguard the bourgeois power from the assault of the people and, on the other, to profit their own clique during the period which power belongs to them. One cannot say that these parliamentary parties, that they are the main factors in stopping the rise of revolutionary class consciousness in the working class. The greatest factor which is stopping this rise is the absence of of a modern communist party, a party which is capable of finding a space for itself, that room which is reserved for the vanguard of the class, that room which people in whose interests it is to have social revolution, have reserved for a communist party. It is altogether wrong to suggest that communists are discredited, people no longer respond to the communists, to what they say. But if communism is merely going to hanker for the past, if communism is merely going to be refurbished and recirculate the lies and apologies of the modern revisionist systems from the past, such a communism is doomed. A modern communist party should not be sectarian. It should not seek unity on the basis of just going into an individual or a groups past but more importantly it should seek unity with everyone on the basis of modern definitions, on the basis of enlightened opinions, so that we can have communism taking its proper place in society, the place of that force towards which everybody gravitates. For this, very hard work needs to be done, and just to translate what we say, that it is merely a question of developing theory, it is not just that question, it is a question of carrying out our practice in such a way that it revolutionizes. “If there is no practice, what will theory be? This will merely be the pursuit of some lost souls who want to find themselves. Well, communist parties do not consist of lost souls. They are not trying to find themselves; they are the vanguard of the class. ...this kind of work of the Communist Parties is not a work in itself, it is in the service of of developing our class struggle to prepare ourselves for the time when the situation will be favourable to remove from the positions of leadership in the social organizations those who are blocking the path to this preparation, who are introducing disorganisation, paralysis, pessimism in the working class, in the petty bourgeoisie, and among other social strata. When the bourgeoisie describes its parties, their role is to be gatekeepers, like St. Peter who guards the gates to heaven. Heaven is their executive power; political power and the role of political parties is to guard executive power from the people taking that power over. Can we say that the communist party should be a red St Peter? That is, should it stop the working class from taking power? These questions require very serious thought. Some may ask, if a political party is not going for power, then what is the role of a political party, what is its use? Modern life, the consciousness of various classes, is connected with the rise of modern political parties. One cannot go backwards. It is not enough to have spontaneous consciousness in order to have a planned and organized society. One has to have those who are dedicated, organized representatives of the class to carry out its mission. There is no reason whatsoever to change the definition given by Lenin of the communist party. But once that definition is acknowledged, it has to be given a modern rendering. I am quite serious when I say that a communist should be a red St. Peter, in the sense that he or she should protect proletarian power from being usurped by the bourgeoisie. But if the working class is actually not in power, if the selection of candidates and elections do not take place with the actual composition of being from the working class and playing the leading role in the bodies of power, it cannot be said there is working class power. “Some people say the communists had their army in Albania, why didn’t they use it? Is this what communism is? Is this the way issues should be settled? Who were the ones the army should be used against? Those who are asking that economic conditions should be improved, those who are asking for civil rights and the right to speak? Who? When these questions are raised, one should keep in mind the kind of power a party secretary wielded under the old system. Should we have the party secretaries wielding such power? In my view, no. It should not be. For this reason, our Party has eliminated the Political Bureau. “The question of whether a political party should come to power or not is a very serious question. For instance, it is said that if all sorts of people get elected, how will you have policy, because these days party whips dictate the policy which should be followed. There are all kinds of naive people who think that if there is no party whip, a bad decision will necessarily be taken. But the issue is, where is the agenda set? The agenda is set by the Cabinet. The Cabinet may call a meeting of the House of Commons, or simply issue a directive. They don’t have to get anyone’s approval. Most of the time in various countries, the agenda is set not even by Cabinet but by an Inner-Cabinet. These practices have to be ended. The modern proletariat has nothing to fear but its own shadow, which they call this old communism, which is based on all sorts of rotten Bonapartism, militarist views. “As long as there is a party, it will have a class character. When parties do not exist, it means society will be communist and there will be no need for parties. When parties do not have a class character, there will be no need for parties. Either a party has a class character, or there will be no parties. In this period in which the demand is for democratic renewal, we know various people who are speaking about democratic renewal from the angle that it merely means a populist upsurge of the masses. That is not the case. Democratic renewal can only be led by the party, by the proletariat. “By modern definitions, we simply mean that the doctrine of communism has to find itself, has to adapt itself as a doctrine without being emasculated or revised within the modern conditions. There is no suggestion of anything new, no suggestion that any principles have become antiquated and have to be eliminated. To provide modern definitions means to provide a modern rendering of these problems. “The idea of modern definitions is to bring the content into clear focus in an elaborated, broader form, so that the consciousness of the people is far greater. To say today that proletarian democracy is the best in the world and to leave the issue there is not adequate. At one time, to say that there are two types of democracy was an advance, just to say that. Now to give a content, that what is it and to elaborate on these matters, that is what it means to provide modern definitions. Unless we work in this way, people will not accept us. The issue here is that I am not going to change my colour and call myself an ex-communist and find new definitions. The point is that objectively there is a space for communists in which they must operate. “The whole theory of two camps [of capitalism and socialism] in that particular form, the way it existed, was concocted in 1947. It is a very doubtful theory. It was concocted in Warsaw when what was called the Cominform was formed. To present this in a simplistic way: that the world is divided in two, was later used by Khrushchev in order to declare to declare this so-called socialist camp as the zone of influence of the Soviet Union. The invasion of Czechoslovakia took place under the slogan of the “defence of the socialist camp.” I can assure you, just from our point of view, if Canada has a socialist revolution, we will not join the socialist camp, even if there are 101 countries or 175 which are socialist. We will fight anybody else who has these camps. We are against any blocs. This does not mean that we will not sympathize and support socialist countries. We do not agree with this theory of blocs. It is a reactionary theory. It is a theory which cannot be accepted. It is chauvinist. “What we are saying is that the democratic renewal of the political process is a factor which will contribute to the development of social revolution. This is not a reform which will help bourgeois democracy. Far from it. The question which this other friend has raised, that is of political power and how it should be wielded, is one of the major questions of the 20th century. So too is the question of whether a political party should come to power. Every form of bourgeois ideology justifies that the state should be an instrument of a party… In the 1950s, every revisionist party established party dictatorships. They are the ones who have these kinds of ideologies. They pushed this view, the phrase you used, of pushing bourgeois democracy to its limits. Far from it. We want to put forward a reform which would subvert this democracy. “The question you raise is very important. Worker in Canada also raise it. It is very legitimate in my view. They ask, how can you wear two hats? One day you have a red hat which is for socialism, the next day you have another hat which is for democracy. These are not two different hats. The only thing is that within these conditions, we must organize the working class, we must make it conscious about the need for socialism and about all this we have talked about in the sphere of theory. At the same time, we say to the working class that the bourgeoisie is most vulnerable on this question; hit it. That is what the role of democratic renewal is. Show that your representatives are the best scholars and most enlightened people in the world. They are not lazybones, empty propagandists supporting this or that sect. It is necessary to bring forward that profound enlightenment which is required to bring about these transformations. The slogan which we put forward in 1985 - Build the Movement for Enlightenment - was an answer at that time to Gorbachev who had his perestroika with its universal principles to bring the work into further darkness. Our slogan was to enhance the role of Marxism-Leninism and enhance the role of the class against the imposition of backward “universal principles.” There is such a thing as an enlightened position, as the high road of civilization… In democratic renewal, our immediate political demand is that there should be No Election Without Selection, which means that political parties should be deprived of their right to select candidates. That is the cutting edge on this question.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 16:48:57 +0000
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